Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“The most important thing to make clear here is that anyone who suggests that Israel’s onslaught in Gaza has anything whatsoever to do with hostages is either ignorant or lying. Netanyahu has explicitly said that Israel’s attack will not end until Trump’s ethnic cleansing plan to permanently remove all Palestinians from the Gaza Strip has been accomplished. This is not about freeing hostages, this is about a land grab that Israel has been pursuing for generations. So when people say ‘why don’t Hamas release the hostages?’ in response to criticisms of Israel’s genocidal atrocities in Gaza, they’re generally just throwing up a completely fallacious red herring to nullify that criticism. It is of course true that the Israeli government doesn’t care about the hostages, but it’s not accurate to say the hostages aren’t a bargaining chip.” (08/22/25)